35,93 USD
-0,08% | -0,03
23/09/2011 22:02
ISIN US6087531090 | Actions
Traitement des métaux
USA
Sept. 20, 2011, 11:23 a.m. EDT
J.P. Morgan cuts Molycorp outlook
By Ian Thomson
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM +1.09% lowered its outlook on Molycorp Inc. MCP -0.08% to reflect the recent drop in rare earth prices following a sharp increase over the second quarter.
The investment bank cut its stock investment rating on the rare earth mining company to neutral from overweight and slashed its 2012 year-end price target to $66 from $105, citing a "lack of clarity" that recent speculative buying potentially had on rare earth prices.
J.P. Morgan also cited a recently downgraded estimate of rare earth demand by the Industrial Mineral Company of Australia as a catalyst for its cautious stance.
Molycorp's shares tumbled 17% to $43.80 in recent trading. The stock traded in the high $70s in May.
Prices of rare-earth elements, which are used in high-tech electronics and defense and other applications, have surged the past two years as China has cracked down on illegal production and reduced its export quotas. The country currently controls about 95% of the world's rare-earth supply.
Export prices of cerium, lanthanum and neodymium have dropped 48%, 36% and 22% respectively from their July highs, but are still roughly equal to or above their first-quarter averages, said JPMorgan analysts in a research note led by Michael Gambardella.
"We continue to believe that still elevated rare earth prices should support Molycorp's stock and push it higher," the firm said.
Denver-based Molycorp, which was formed in 2008 to purchase a California mine from Chevron Corp. (CVX), went public last summer with J.P. Morgan acting as one of the two leading underwriters along with Morgan Stanley MS +5.05% . The company is currently expected to produce more than 4,500 metric tons of rare-earth products this year from its three facilities.
J.P. Morgan's revised price target ranks as the lowest on the Street, according to FactSet, with consensus share-price target at $85.60. The firm also cut its third-quarter earnings estimate for Molycorp to 70 cents a share from 86 cents, and lowered its full-year estimate to $1.75 a share from $2.44.
Last month, Molycorp reported it swung to a second-quarter profit on sharply higher sales volume and selling prices, as well as contributions from two subsidiaries the company acquired in April.
Colorado-based Molycorp, Inc. is the only rare earth oxide, or REO, producer in the Western hemisphere and own the world’s largest, most fully developed rare earth project outside of China. Following the execution of the Company's “mine-to-magnets” strategy and completion of its modernization and expansion efforts at its Mountain Pass., Calif. processing facility, it expects to be one of the world’s most integrated producers of rare earth products, including oxides, metals, alloys and magnets. Rare earths are critical inputs in existing and emerging applications including: clean energy technologies, such as hybrid and electric vehicles and wind power turbines; multiple high-tech uses, including fiber optics, lasers and hard disk drives; numerous defense applications, such as guidance and control systems and global positioning systems; and advanced water treatment technology for use in industrial, military and outdoor recreation applications. Global demand for rare earth elements, or REEs, is projected to steadily increase due to continuing growth in existing applications, increased innovation and development of new end uses and declining exports from China, which currently supplies 97% of the world’s demand.
Les terres rares sont un groupe de métaux aux propriétés voisines comprenant le scandium 21Sc, l'yttrium 39Y et les quinze lanthanides.
Ces métaux sont, contrairement à ce que suggère leur appellation, assez répandus dans l'écorce terrestre, à l'égal des métaux usuels — l'abondance du cérium (60 ppm) est ainsi du même ordre que celle du cuivre, tandis que celle du thulium et du lutécium n'est que de 0,5 ppm. Sous forme élémentaire, les terres rares ont un aspect métallique et sont assez tendres, malléables et ductiles. Ces éléments sont aussi généralement chimiquement assez réactifs, surtout à températures élevées ou lorsqu'ils sont finement divisés. Leur nom vient du fait qu'on les a découverts au début du xixe siècle dans des minerais (d'où le nom de « terres », utilisé à l'époque en français, langue des échanges internationaux, pour les oxydes) peu courants à cette époque : terres rares signifiait donc « minerais rares ». Cependant, en raison de leurs propriétés géochimiques, ils sont répartis très inégalement à la surface de la Terre, le plus souvent en deçà des concentrations rendant leur exploitation minière économiquement viable.
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